Brooklyn Nets $67.78Million Forward SuperStar Player Dad gets to see him play for the first time after prison release…
For Brooklyn Nets forward Dorian Finney-Smith, Game 78 held special significance beyond just another match. It marked a deeply meaningful moment as his father, Elbert Smith, attended his game against the Detroit Pistons at Barclays Center on Saturday night.
It was the very first time the 52-year-old had the opportunity to witness his son play in person, as reported by Daily Mail.
“It’s exciting,” the Nets forward said prior to tipoff. “It’s exciting knowing it’s (going to) be his first time ever seeing me play in person. But definitely want to get his win for him, so just try and focus on getting the win.”
In 1996, Elbert Smith was convicted on charges including second-degree murder, malicious wounding, and firearm use in the death of Willie Anderson II, resulting in a 44-year prison sentence. Reports from The Dallas Morning News indicate that during Finney-Smith’s tenure with the Mavericks, the team contributed efforts towards securing Elbert Smith’s release.
On Tuesday night, Toronto Maple Leaf Auston Matthews scored his 66th goal of the 2023-24 campaign, setting the record for most goals in a single season during the salary cap era, which began in 2005. After beating New Jersey Devils’ netminder Jake Allen, he surpassed the mark set by Alex Ovechkin, who collected 65 goals in 2007-08.
The Maple Leafs have four games left, including a rematch with the Devils on Thursday night. This gives Matthews a handful of chances to reach 70 goals, a milestone unattainable since Teemu Selanne and Alexander Mogilny had 76 in 1992-93. Since that magical season, only Mario Lemieux has come close to 70, reaching 69 in 1992-93 and 1995-96.
Matthews is having the best goal-scoring season of his career and is a lock to win the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy for the third time as the only skater in the NHL this season with more than 53 goals. After signing a lucrative extension in Aug. 2023, valued at $13.2 million annually, which begins next season, he’s destroyed his previous high in goals, which was 60, set in the 2021-22 season.
With a 5-2 win over the Devils, Toronto collected its 29th win of the season when Matthews lights the lamp. He’s now scored 365 goals in 558 games, which equals a .654 goals-per-game pace for a player who is a former Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award winner.
At the end of his eighth season, Matthews ranks 14th among active scorers in goals, and if he maintains his 53-goal average from the past three seasons, he could surpass 400 next season.
Mikal Bridges says it hasn’t really hit him yet that he will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2020, but that is the dire reality of the situation for the Nets.
Brooklyn will play out the string with its final three games of the season this week, beginning with their last home game Wednesday night against the also-eliminated Raptors at Barclays Center.
“It’s not fun at all,” Bridges said after practice Tuesday in Brooklyn. “It still hasn’t hit me yet. When the season ends, it probably will. But it’s not fun.
“Obviously, you want to keep playing. The last time I was here [in a non-playoff situation], it [was] probably my second year in the league with the Suns. Yeah, you don’t want to be done in April.”
The 27-year-old Bridges, who was acquired at last season’s trade deadline from Phoenix in the Kevin Durant blockbuster, has two guaranteed years remaining on his contract with a salary-cap hit of $23.3 million for 2024-25.
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Brooklyn Nets Rumors: The Compelling Mikal Bridges Plan After Disastrous 2023-24 NBA Season
It is hard to tell at the moment what the future looks like for the Brooklyn Nets. They are already out of playoff contention and with no chance of getting into the play-in tournament, even. That doesn’t mean they don’t have great talents on the roaster. Brooklyn still has Mikal Bridges
The Nets acquired Bridges from the Phoenix Suns via a circuitous four-team trade in 2023 that involved the Indiana Pacers and the Milwaukee Bucks. Brooklyn then inherited the financial commitment to Bridges, who was signed by the Suns to a four-year, $90.9 million rookie scale contract extension back in 2021.
Just like the Nets’ direction, it’s not easy to determine what exactly Brooklyn’s stance or plan is with Bridges, who was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round (10th overall) of the 2018 NBA Draft.
Rumors are starting to circulate that the Nets could trade the former Villanova Wildcats tar in the summer, while his contract is still relatively easy to sell to potential bidders, but Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report, at least for now, thinks that Brooklyn would end up keeping Bridges, while also stressing that the team “should be considering all options after an awful year.”
So far in the 2023-24 NBA regular season, Bridges is averaging 20.2 points on just 43.8 percent shooting from the field and 37.3 percent from deep, while adding 4.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists per outing.